If you have decided to start making some extra scratch by selling on eBay, you have likely figured out some tricks to make the most of your efforts. You don’t want all your profits to go back to eBay and Paypal in the form of fees. Fees…such an ugly word, but without eBay, it would be hard to sell those weird items online in an efficient manner. So fees are just a part of the game.
Another way you can see money slip away while selling online is with shipping costs. You can easily lose money if you don’t know what you are doing when it comes to actually getting that pink caterpillar lamp shipped to the buyer living in Nebraska. Here are a few ways to not waste your eBay profits on shipping.
5. Buying boxes for shipping can get costly. You can usually find used boxes at grocery and convenience stores to use to ship your items. Old newspapers, plastic bags, or six pack plastic drink ringers can be used to cushion the fragile items inside the boxes.
4. Don’t try to get around eBay fees by charging a low price for the item then jacking up the shipping costs. eBay fixed that loophole long ago and now charges a fee on your shipping charge.
3. Get a scale! Just guessing the weight of an item as you are listing it on eBay is no good. You have no idea what something weighs without a proper scale. Best place to buy a scale? eBay of course. Consider selling scales if you can source them cheaply also.
2. Use flat rate boxes or envelopes to make sure you know your costs on each sale you make. This is hard to do when you have big items or odd shaped products to ship, so just consider this point when deciding what you will be selling longterm. Smaller, lighter items are generally easier to handle.
1. Reuse the shipping supplies that come with packages you have bought online. I know you can’t help yourself from being a buyer as well as a seller! From boxes to bubble wrap and packing peanuts, there may be a couple of dollars in shipping supplies in each package you receive with your purchases. Tape is hard to reuse though. Believe me….this cheapskate has tried and failed!
